TRANSLATING CELLULAR PROTOCOLS FOR A VEHICLE TELEMATICS UNIT

• US 20150312380A1
• Filed: 04/29/2014
• Published: 10/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Sauerbrey, Steven, Droste, Scott, Macdonald, Andrew, Rasal, Abuzafor
• Application Number:
  US14/264,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20150312380A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5166 in combination with interactive voice response systems or voice portals, e.g. as front-ends
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A system and method of converting a cellular protocol of wireless communications at a vehicle includes receiving, at a relay device located in a vehicle, wireless communications that are sent from a vehicle telematics unit using a first cellular protocol; converting the wireless communications to a second cellular protocol at the relay device; and transmitting the converted wireless communications from the relay device to a cell tower using the second cellular protocol.

Claims

1. A method of converting a cellular protocol of wireless communications at a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving, at a relay device located in a vehicle, wireless communications that are sent from a vehicle telematics unit using a first cellular protocol;

(b) converting the wireless communications to a second cellular protocol at the relay device; and

(c) transmitting the converted wireless communications from the relay device to a cell tower using the second cellular protocol.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the relay device further comprises a base station transceiver and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the base station transceiver further comprises a femtocell network.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of communicating between the femtocell network and the Wi-Fi hotspot via a short-range wireless protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first cellular protocol is older than the second cellular protocol.

6. A method of converting a cellular protocol of wireless communications at a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving, at a relay device located in a vehicle, wireless communications sent from a cell tower using a first cellular protocol;

(b) converting the wireless communications to a second cellular protocol at the relay device; and

(c) transmitting the converted wireless communications to a vehicle telematics unit using the second cellular protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the relay device further comprises a base station transceiver and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the base station transceiver further comprises a femtocell network.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of communicating between the femtocell network and the Wi-Fi hotspot via a short-range wireless protocol.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the first cellular protocol is older than the second cellular protocol.

11. A relay device for converting a cellular protocol of wireless communications at a vehicle, comprising:

a base station transceiver operating according to a first cellular protocol that communicates signals with a vehicle telematics unit;

a control unit having a microprocessor and a memory device that translate output from the base station transceiver in the first cellular protocol into a second cellular protocol; and

a cellular transceiver operating according to the second cellular protocol that receives the output from the control unit and wirelessly communicates it with a cell tower according to the second cellular protocol.

12. The relay device of claim 11, wherein the base station transceiver further comprises a femtocell network.

13. The relay device of claim 11, wherein the cellular transceiver further comprises a Wi-Fi hotspot.

14. The relay device of claim 11, further comprising a radio frequency (RF) connector that receives wireless communications from a vehicle telematics unit.